Houston News

Armed Citizen Project Reaches Milestone

Recent talk about 'stand your ground' has helped a grassroots group reach a milestone in a crime infested neighborhood of northwest Houston.

Since it's inception back in February, the Armed Citizen Project has promised to fight crime by giving away one shotgun at a time. The group's Kyle Coplen says they've made great strides in the Oak Forest neighborhood, and believes momentum will carryover to other parts of the U.S.

“We've trained and armed 50 folks so far, nobody has had to use one yet, fortunately,” Coplen tells KTRH News. “Next month is our national empowerment month, we're going to be training 500 women nationwide.”

“We have directors in other states right now building infrastructure to make it happen,” he says.

Coplen meanwhile, continues to raise donations for training new shotgun owners, and is asking others to donate their old firearms in exchange for picking who they would like to see trained -- a single mother, neighbor down the street, whomever.

“If they have a firearm they don't really use anymore, let's turn that into a new and responsible gun owner,” he says. “So it's Biden's love of shotguns with Obama's love of redistribution, therefore it transcends politics.”